Passing the gavel in Savannah

At a gathering of 200 pro dealers and suppliers in Savannah, Ga., the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) board of directors introduced a new leadership team headed by Chuck Bankston, president of Bankston Lumber in Barnesville, Ga. The Oct. 24 installation was held during the ProDealer Industry Summit, a three-day event jointly sponsored by the NLBMDA and Home Channel News.

Bankston replaced outgoing chair Cally Coleman Fromme, executive VP of Zarsky Lumber Co. Reflecting on the decades she and her family have operated their Texas chain of lumberyards, which Fromme will soon take over, the first woman to serve as an NLBMDA chair said: “We stick around [because] we love it. We can’t help it.”

Incoming chair Bankston recalled his failed attempt at getting a job as a lifeguard at the town’s public pool. Working in the family lumberyard—– he’s the fourth generation — appeared to be his destiny. “My dad never pushed me into getting back into the family business,” Bankston said. “He always let me make my decisions on my own. [But] he instilled in me conservative core values that drive everything I do today.”

The NLBMDA bestowed service awards on Carlos Guilherme of Weyerhaeuser, Harold Baalmann of B&B Lumber, and the Oklahoma Lumbermen’s Association.